Our Story Thus Far: Trying to thwart a new Sin bent on destroying temples, Summoner Isaaru and Auron hatch a plan to rescue Djose's fayth. Most of the Crusaders in the operation are kept in the dark, especially Captain Luzzu, who is suspected of having some way of communicating with Sin.

"Sir Auron, I must protest! You mean to tell me they're not even guardians? They should never have been permitted—"

"Neither are you, Father," Elma said.

The priest stood spreadeagled in the doorway of the Chamber of the Fayth, blocking the workers who had been dismantling its frame. "Your presence here is sheer outrage! Your men have defiled the Cloister of Trials, desecrated the fayth's sanctuary! Why, it will take us years to repair the damage!"

"If there's anything left to repair," Pacce said.

"Hey," Maroda said. "Isaaru's communing with the fayth, remember? If you want your aeon in one piece, I respectfully suggest you shut up."

I really REALLY really wish I hadn't lost my art skills. I have an image in my head, but it won't come out. And arthritis means I can't do much at a time, which is one reason I got out of the habit. BUT I WANT TO DRAW THIS THING DAMMIT.

(I was initially trying to draw Yuna arriving in Besaid, getting her first glimpse of goth girl standing aloof from everyone else and watching her.)

i keep looking up twelve year old and seven year old girls on image search, trying to find art references, and being paranoid that someone's going to think I'm an awful person. :(

They're 13 and 8 in the picture above. Poor Yuna; it must've upset her more than anyone else in Spira when Sin came back.

I'm always interested in mentoring and big sister / little sister dynamics between female characters, so of course I latched onto the early interactions between Rydia and Rosa in FFIV. That scene on Mt. Hobbs inspired me to sketch this:

leyna has just served up a five-star banquet of incredible FF fanart, paintings that include Balthier, Fang, Lulu — who should now be in a crossover adventuring party full of witty banter and icy put-downs — plus cameos by Lightning, Squall, Namingway (who?) and some Type-O character.

It illustrates a scene in the "Eight of Swords" chapter of Love Her and Despair, when Yu Yevon clamped down hard on Lulu for defying its will and taking too many liberties with Sin to aid her friends. As usual, the dream-interior of Sin is fashioned from its prisoner's hopes, loves, and fears.

It's worth digging through her whole journal. For Final Fantasy fans, I want to recommend a couple of Fang paintings, one with Vanille and one sparring practice scene with Lightning in which, so help me, Fang is tickling that exposed bit of tummy on Ms. Supersoldier's uniform. My interpretation is that Fang is attempting to seduce or simply pester, while Lightning doesn't know whether to break character and squirm or just chop off the offending foot.

However, it's the Vanille/Fang "You Are My Only Home" painting that I especially wish to rec. Break out the angst piano, folks; it's the Last Lesbians in the World.

ETA: I just looked at the Fang/Vanille again, and you should go. Look at it now. Even if you don't bally know the characters. The colors are gorgeous.

In other news, I have a happy dilemma: do I post all 4800 5100 words of Chapter 49 or break it into two installments? I may go with the two-installments thing for mugs and because that way I can keep working on the next chapter with more lead time. On the other hand, it really doesn't have a comfortable breakpoint.

Also this one of the Farplane (Warning, some very NSFW fanart elsewhere on that site, but that particular artist's work is safe. I am keenly disappointed to find that this is not, in fact, Auron, Braska and Jecht going clubbing.)

Have you ever stumbled across something in an old folder you really don't remember writing or drawing? This is clearly my clumsy drawing, and it's a scene I am sure I wrote at some point, but I'd completely forgotten I tried to illustrate it.

So. Doodle. Set about a year prior to FFX, Lulu and Luzzu.

Title: "Message"

(If you've not played the game in a while, it's the moment when Lulu learned what had happened to Chappu.)

I've always liked Luzzu, partly because of his rueful "she hit me, too" comment about Lulu (direct Japanese translation: "She has furious fists!"), and partly because he's trying so hard to keep the cadets from getting themselves redshirted.

The following ficbit is a backstory bridge picking up with the moment when Luzzu got on Lulu's bad side, segueing to the "Lulu's Contempt" FMV in which she rips Wakka a new one, and indirectly providing backstory for the "Kimahri Pounces* Tidus" FMV the next morning. Not all that exciting, but, character stuff, which used to be my forte.